devotional post #2020

Luke 17:26-27

Luk 17:26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, that is how it will be in the days of the Son of Man also.
Luk 17:27 People were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage — right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

the only sign

The Pharisees wanted a sign—some dramatic indicator that the kingdom Jesus spoke of was truly arriving. They expected something unmistakable: political upheaval, cosmic disturbances, visible shifts in power. But Jesus pointed them to a far older pattern, one they should have recognized from the days of Noah. That generation did not receive spectacular warnings either. There were no ominous clouds gathering, no tremors in the earth, no escalating violence that signaled the flood’s approach. Life went on as usual—eating, drinking, marrying, building—right up until the first drops of rain began to fall.

Their only sign was a man. Noah stood before them for a century, preaching righteousness, calling for repentance, urging them to take God’s warning seriously. For one hundred years, God waited patiently, giving every opportunity for people to respond. But in the end, only Noah and his family entered the ark. The rest of the world dismissed the messenger and ignored the message.

Jesus draws a straight line from Noah’s day to his own. The Pharisees wanted a sign of the kingdom, but the sign was already standing in front of them—Jesus himself, proclaiming the arrival of God’s reign. And now, in our age, the pattern continues. The sign of the coming Savior is not found in dramatic cosmic events or sensational predictions. It is found in a preaching church. The people of God, proclaiming the gospel, calling the world to repentance, announcing the return of Christ—this is the sign God has chosen.

Just as Noah’s voice echoed through his generation, the church’s voice echoes through ours. We are the heralds of righteousness, the living reminder that history is moving toward a decisive moment. Our message is not speculation but invitation. Not fearmongering but hope. Not hidden knowledge but the plain announcement that the King who came once will come again.

The question is not whether the world will receive more signs. The question is whether it will listen to the one sign God has already given.

LORD, make us a sign that people listen to, before it is too late.